[DRAFT] The Emancipation Proclamation

[Prusmia]

[title] The Emancipation Proclamation

[validity] (possibly not for school class nations but, that kind of defeats part of the purpose)

[description] The streets of @@CAPITAL@@ are alight with a wave of minors attempting to be granted emancipation from their parents. While the mob runs through @@CAPITAL@@'s streets a different mob of government officials, enraged parents and troubled teens are in your office trying to come to a solution.

[option 1] "Listen @@LEADER@@, I couldn't bear to see myself separated from my kid simply because they wanted it. Children shouldn't be allowed to be separated from their parents until they reach adulthood. Please, @@LEADER@@! Think of the parents."

[effect 1] 'Rates of child runaways are on the climb.'

[option 2] A teenage boy wearing a hoodie walks up to you while everyone else is arguing. "Please, if you would spare a moment. @@LEADER@@, the people out there and me, we don't want emancipation because we want to be bad, we want it to get away from our bad parents. They've messed with our lives and now we want to leave them so they can't mess with them anymore." He is about to continue until his mom drags him out of the room.

[effect 2] 'Teenagers are often seen with their friends rather than with an adult.'

[option 3] A little girl carrying a lolipop walks into your office. Doing cartwheels all the while, "Hewwo @@LEADER@@, I thwink thwat we shwould be let out intwo the world when we're born. Ya, lwet out intwo thwe wild. It''d be fun!"

[effect 3] (Enacts Child Self-Rearing) 'No children walk the streets of @@NAME@@'

[option 4] One of your advisors, trying to be heard yells. "Why not just let those who operate as functioning members of society declare emancipation, they've proven they can function by themselves." Before his voiced is drowned out by everyone else.

[effect 4] 'Waiting lists to work at minimum wage jobs are at a all time high.'

[Australian rePublic]

Why do so many kids want emancipation? Is it because of bad parents? If so, why do they get a say in option 1?

[Daarwyrth]

I agree with Australian rePublic here, the reasoning behind so many children wanting to emancipate from their parents is important. Part of this could be solved by the validity, namely if you include a high Youth Rebelliousness. That would already be one cause behind so many children wanting emancipation from their parents. Yet I also feel the high Youth Rebelliousness should be reflected within the premise text. So, you should include a line about children in @@NAME@@ having a longstanding tradition/habit of harbouring rebellious sentiments towards their parents/caregivers, which is why they eventually took to the streets. In its current form, the desire for emancipation from their parents is somewhat random and sudden.

[Trotterdam]

Usually when you discover bad parents, you'd deal with them by giving the children to new adoptive parents or by taking them into state foster care, not by setting the children free to live on their own. Except maybe if they're teenagers who are already pretty close to the age of majority, but that raises worries about how the bad parenting didn't get caught for so long.

In pretty much any nation that has a provision for emancipated minors, there is some kind of condition that must be passed for it to be granted, such as demonstrating an actual need to get away from your parents, or demonstrating maturity beyond the average for your age that qualifies you to take care of yourself, rather than any child being able to be emancipated just by asking for it. So the debate would mostly be "exactly how do we judge applications?", rather than just "emancipation vs no emancipation".

Might want to be clearer up-front about what is being talked about, too. When I first read "emancipation", my thoughts went to voting rights (#182), before I realized you were talking more about personal freedom.